Switching Countries and Tracking Him Down
by Kathleen1533
Summary: Max and her family move from England to America after her parents' divorce. She is plagued by other students fascinated by her, Miss Popularity: Lissa, and all the while trying to figure out who Nick is. How does Fang fit into all this? And why does he keep trying to stop her search?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, but I do own this plot, unless my evil twin wrote it, then I don't own this plot. *Looks around* Well seeing as my evil twin isn't at this laptop writing this, I guess it's mine. Woohoo! **

**Chapter One- Switching Countries and Switching Schools**

You are visitor… You know what? I don't know, it stopped working again.

As you obviously know, this is my (Nick's) blog. Anyways, here's today's post.

Well school starts soon, yippee! *Please note my sarcasm* So I get to be bored out of my mind, told 'I need to apply myself to my assignments', and deal with _her_. Yes ladies and gentlemen, welcome _her_- The Crawler. For any of you new readers, The Crawler is a girl and my worst nightmare. **(A/N: Just to clear it up, The Crawler is Lissa)**

Alright, to all of my readers, I have a challenge for you. When you leave a comment, write and idea for a prank to pull on The Crawler. I will use some of the best ones. Think of this as a contest, it'll get you guys come up with really good pranks.

Nick

I shut my laptop after reading today's post on the blog. I swear, it was the only thing keeping me sane as I moved from one country to another. Yep, my mother, the amazing-cookie-baker-slash-vet decided that after the divorce from my horrible biological father, Jeb, we needed to move from home in England, to Ohio, in the USA. **(A/N: It was the first state that popped into my head :p)**

My mom actually grew up in America, just California, not Ohio. She moved to Ohio after college. Enter Jeb. They dated for sometime, then got married. Three years after they got married, Itex (Where Jeb worked), transferred the two to England, London more precisely. I was born there shortly after they moved, and the twins, Ella and Nudge were born a year after me.

"Hey Max, how much longer are we gonna be on this plane? What is the weather like in Ohio? I hope it's sunny, I like sunshine, it makes everything seem so wonderful and-" I clamped my hand over my talkative sister, Nudge's mouth. I looked over at Ella, who was sleeping in the seat next to her twin's. How she was sleeping, I will never understand, I mean that girl's got Nudge next to her. Then, I noticed the earplugs. Lucky duck.

Nudge spoke against my hand which was still on her mouth. "Mumphh Humhphh Puuupmh." I removed my hand. "How much longer are we on this plane?" she repeated.

I shrugged. "I don't know, lemme ask mom." I turned to my right. "Mom, how long until we land?"

"I have no idea, sorry." She said. I once again turned around to see Nudge, who was in the seat behind me.

"So, how long?" Nudge asked.

I opened my mouth, but was interrupted. "Attention passengers, we shall be landing in Ohio in ten minutes."

The flight attendants came out of nowhere and did their little thing, telling us to please return our seats to the upright position and turn off electronics, among other things.

After packing up my laptop, I laid back and wondered briefly what life in Ohio would be like.

We got off the plane and man, let me tell you, it felt so weird using my legs after that long plane ride.

Thankfully, we didn't have to go through baggage because we only brought carry-ons as all of our stuff had been shipped ahead to our new home, so we just got into a taxi were driven to our new address.

My first impression of our house was that it wasn't ours because it was huge! I swear, it was the size of a mansion, but it was pretty old, so I could see how my mom afforded it.

"I know it's a little run down and we're going to have to fix it up, but do you like it?" My mom asked anxiously.

"Oh my goodness!" Ella shrieked. "It's amazing!" My mom had a smile so big; I wondered how it was possible.

I looked at Nudge, she had been uncharacteristically silent. I laughed loudly; Nudge was just standing there with her mouth hanging open! "Uh, Nudge?" I waved my hand in front of her face and she snapped back into our world.

"I call first pick!" she ran into the house, Ella right behind her, and me trying to pass them. I ran up the stairs, ahead of my tow sisters and into the first room I saw.

It was awesome! It was huge with two doors that led to a balcony. I usually don't like the whole Romeo-Juliet thing but it was cool. I turned to my right and saw a door. Through the door was a closet that was bigger than a normal one, but not too big. "Definitely gonna like this house." I said.

My mom popped her head into my room. "Did you find your room?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. Now come help with the boxes." I groaned. "If we get it done fast enough, I might be able to make some chocolate-chip cookies."

"Cookies!" I ran outside and grabbed a few of my boxes. Balancing them, I tried to walk up the stairs, but I dropped a box. Cursing I looked around for either of my sisters or my mother. Spotting Ella, I shouted at her. "Ella! Come help me!"

"Sure." She picked up the box that had fallen halfway down the stairs.

"By the way," I said as we set the boxes down on the floor of my room. "Which room is yours?"

"Oh yeah, follow me." She led me out of my room and down the hall. I passed two rooms that I hadn't seen yet, but I knew one of them was the bathroom the girls and I would share. Ella turned into a doorway, and because I wasn't paying attention, I bumped into the wall. "Ouch," I muttered.

I heard giggling as I walked into the room rubbing my nose. Ella's room was a little smaller that mine and it didn't have a balcony, but it did have a bigger closet, which was good, because Ella had a lot more clothes than I did. "What's behind this door?" I asked opening the door to a room exactly like Ella's.

"ZOMG Max! Isn't this so cool! My room is connected to Ella's! It'll be just like when we shared a room in London, just without actually being in the same room! Hey, so you think we'll be able to get a pet? Jeb's not here anymore, so no one in the house is allergic to animals. If we get a pet, can we get a dog?"

Before she spoke again, I interrupted her. "Nudge, breathe. I don't know if we can get a dog. You'll have to ask mom. Also, you should unpack, we have to go register for school tomorrow and school starts two days after that."

"Okay!" She went to go get some boxes.

I went back to my room and started to unpack. Opening some of the boxes, I figured I had some of my clothes, some hangers, my pillows and blankets, and my guitar which my mom had probably brought up while I had been in Ella and Nudge's rooms. I also found my mini amplifiers that I used with my guitar.

I put all of the clothes onto the hangers and put them in the closet. My bed wasn't up in my room yet so I just kept the bed stuff in its box.

I grabbed my guitar and started to play. I got my guitar back when I was thirteen three years ago and it was my baby. No one was allowed to touch it. Even my own mother was only allowed to touch it, when it was in its case.

Strumming it, I looked out the glass doors that led to the balcony. Across from it was another house and I could see a window covered with black curtains.

I started playing a whole bunch of different chords, and I noticed the curtains being lifted. Now I could see a face. It was a guy, I decided.

He had dark hair and mysterious eyes, and those eyes were fixated on me. Feeling defiant, I started strumming really loudly all the while my eyes never leaving his. I kept that up until my mom shouted "Maximum Ride! Stop that and finish unpacking or no cookies!"

Well, I couldn't risk my delicious chocolate-chip cookies, so I set my baby down in its case and casting one more look at the dude, who was still watching me, though not in a creepy-stalkery way, but in a curious-teenage-neighbour way, I stuck my tongue out at him and whipping my blonde hair as I left my room, I could sense him chuckling.

I walked down the stairs and finally took notice of the first floor. I saw a large living room, a breakfast nook, elegant dining room, a kitchen that looked like it was for a professional, and a staircase that I guessed led to the basement.

"Max!" I followed Ella's voice. She was outside by the moving truck. I saw her struggling with a big box so I rushed to take it from her before she could drop it. It probably weighed two tons at least!

"Ella, what is in this!?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh just me and Nudge's makeup and hair stuff."

"How can you guys have this much makeup?"

Ella shrugged. "Can you please take it to our bathroom?'

"Okay," I sighed. I struggle the whole way up, but I made it and I dropped it, exhausted on the floor.

Realizing I hadn't brought up any of my stuff, I rushed outside and grabbed some more of my boxes. I put them in my room and repeated until all of my stuff except my desk and bed was in my room.

After what felt like twelve hours, I had gotten unpacked completely, and my bed and desk were set up in my room.

I eyed my balcony window. I had put curtains up on the doors that I had used as window blinds for my windows back home. They were a little small because they were previously used for windows and these were doors, but they would have to do until I got ones that fit.

I sniffed the air and smelled the cookies my mom had promised. "Cookies!" I ran downstairs and found them on the counter. I grabbed one and shoved into my mouth. "Hot!" I shouted. "But so good!"

Mom came into the kitchen with take-out. All of us were ravenous and breathed the food in.

Later that night, I fell asleep quickly.

**A/N: A little boring, I know but this is a necessary chapter, so… yeah. Anyways I have the next chapter and possibly soon the third typed up, so I will update when I get five reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **

**Me: "I own Maximum Ride! Yippee!"**

**Max: So you wrote Nevermore?"**

**Me: _Hangs head down._ "No, If I did it wouldn't have ended like that." :( **

_**Sorry if I offend anyone, I just don't like the ending. But I do love James Patterson. I can't wait to read Confessions of a Murder Suspect!**_

**I don't own Maximum Ride!**

**Thanks to my First Reviewer: peace of the earth; I Love You!**

**A/N: I swear, we broke a record for fastest review demand ever! In just a few short hours, I got my quota for five reviews! So hear we go, your second chapter!**

**Chapter Two- A Mysterious Stranger and a Ton of Rules**

I woke up to my alarm clock blaring. I groaned when I realized today I had to got register for high school and get my books because the real day when everyone was supposed to get their stuff was on a day I was still in London.

I grabbed my clothes and ran to the bathroom hoping to get to the shower before the twins.

Luckily, I got to the bathroom just before Ella, because I knew if she had gone first, I would've had to wait for at least an hour and a half.

"Ha ha!" I made a face at her.

"Very mature Maximum." She retorted back, but she was smiling. I closed the door and took my shower.

After I was dressed I went downstairs to see if mom had made breakfast yet or if I would. "Mom, you down here?" I called.

"Yes, Max. And yes I did make breakfast: pancakes."

"Yes!" I love pancakes. I shovelled like six large pancakes into my mouth before I felt full. I have a high metabolism.

Once Nudge and Ella had eaten, it was time we had to leave. "Come on girls, time to go."

Our school was a bit away, seeing as it was a private school. My mom had to pick up a rental car because we needed to drive there and she wasn't getting her car until tomorrow.

When I got out of the car I saw the school. It was older then our house, but not that much older. It was called Westington Academy. We walked into the office, finding it without trouble.

"Hi, are you here for registration?" An overly cheerful secretary said.

"Yes," my mother said. "These are my daughters, Nudge, Ella, and Maximum."

I noticed the secretary's name plaque. It said Ms. Winters. _Wow, that it is such a contradiction to her personality. _I thought. "Ah found them, here you go." She handed each of us our schedules. "I'm gonna show you around the school, then after that, I'll give you your books and other things." Just as we were about to leave, the dude from next door walked in.

"Hey Ms. Winters, I'm here to get my stuff." Ms. Winters dug through a file cabinet and found what she was looking for.

"Here ya go Fang." I raised my eyebrows at his unusual name. "Say, you've been here since 9th grade, would you mine showing Miss Ride around? She's a junior, like you and I've got to show her sisters around."

He shrugged. "Sure," he looked at me and left the office. I took that as my cue to follow him. We rounded a corner when he turned to face me.

"So, do you always stick your tongue at new neighbours, or am I special?" My face heated up. "By the way, you're pretty good at the guitar."

"I oughta be, I practice almost everyday and I've been playing for about three years." Fang started walking again, and I followed him until we reached a bunch of lockers.

"What is your locker number?" I looked down at the schedule Ms. Winters had given me.

"247." He cringed. "What?"

"That's next to a girl that's named Lissa, or 'The Crawler'" My eyes widened.

"Nick goes to this school?! Do you know him?" Fang looked at me unbelievingly.

"You read his blog?" I nodded enthusiastically.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here talking to you, I'd be in a mental hospital. Now, will you introduce me to Nick?"

"Um, sorry, he doesn't go to this school; we just call Lissa that because she reminds me and my friends of her."

"Dang it. Have you submitted a prank to him?" I asked a little disappointed.

"Not yet, maybe. I don't know."

"I'm still working on the final details of mine, but it is awesome if I do say so myself."

"I'm looking forward to reading all about it." Fang said.

"Huh?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing." He said a little too quickly.

The rest of the 'Grand Tour' was done in silence; I was too preoccupied thinking of what he meant by "I'm looking forward to reading all about it." He couldn't be Nick? Could he? I didn't know much about him, so it was entirely possible. "I will find out." I muttered.

When we got back to the office, Ella, Nudge, my mother, and Ms. Winters were waiting for us. "Did he show you all of your classrooms?" Ms. Winters asked. I nodded in return. "Okay, I already gave your sisters their textbooks, so come over here so I can give you yours." I followed her behind her desk where a huge pile of textbooks were standing. My eyes widened until they each were the size of Earth. They couldn't all be mine!?

The secretary saw my face and chuckled. "Oh, Max, they're not all yours, half of them are Fang's, but this school does teach a lot of classes that require textbooks." She picked up a list that was on her desk. "Okay, Latin, Math, English," She handed me the corresponding textbooks. "And Science." She handed Fang his textbooks, which were the same exact ones as me except he had advanced English instead of regular English, and he got a Creative Writing textbook. He left after he was handed the last book, silent just as he had been ever since I mentioned pranks.

"Okay, textbooks handed out. Now we have to discuss uniforms. Here at Westington we have strict uniform policies. You girls will have to wear white or red blouses. As girls, you can wear pants or skirts, but they have to be black or kaki for pants or for skirts, you can wear red plaid, plain red, plain black, or kaki." Ms Winters said. "We supply two of each colour blouse, a pair of black pants, a red plaid and a plain black skirt. They rest you can buy at a local store. What are your sizes?" Nudge, Ella and I provided our sizes and Ms. Winters went into a supply closet and gave us each all of the stuff she had mentioned. "For shoes, you'll have to buy them at a store. You have to wear dress shoes."

Ms. Winters finished explaining things about the school and other things about ten minutes later. We went home and the next day went shopping for school supplies.

**A/N: Blame Writer's Block for the bad ending. Oh, I just checked my traffic graph and I had a ton of people read my fanfic, so my question is: Why didn't you review, it doesn't take long, I try to review every story I read. By the way, can someone explain what the difference between visits and views on the traffic graph? Anyways my laptop is needs to be sent in to be repaired so I might not update soon, but who knows! Anyways, I would still like reviews because they make me smile, plus:**

**Reviews = Happy Author**

**Happy Author = Inspiration**

**Inspiration = Faster Updates!**


	3. Chapter 3

**ATTENTION READERS: DUE TO MY BUSY SCHEDULE, I WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON ONE OF MY FANFICTIONS AT A TIME. PLEASE VOTE ON WHAT ONE I SHOULD WORK ON! GO TO YOUR FAVOURITE ONE AND REVIEW IT SAYING THAT YOU VOTE FOR THAT ONE!**

Hey, everyone I got my laptop back from California! Yay more chappies!

Disclaimer: I am not James Patterson, and I have no intention of magically turning into him, so I don't own Maximum Ride. Also, Paramore belongs to…..Paramore?

**Chapter Three - The Queen and The Rebels**

I woke up and thought, _joy, first day of school._I looked at my clock and saw that it was 5:43 am, a whole forty-seven minutes before my alarm would go off. I rolled over onto my side and shut my eyes, trying to go back to sleep. Five minutes later, I groaned, realising I wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.

I got up and walked into my closet. Turning the light on I looked at all my favourite clothes, then looked at the uniforms. Sighing, I picked out the red blouse and black pants; I wasn't too fond of skirts.

Yesterday I bought some shoes at a store that was specifically for the academy. My choice was the plain black flats, but my mother and my sisters conspired against me and made me get black high heels as well. As soon as I had gotten home, I threw them into the back of my closet, knowing I'd never wear them.

Relaxing, I took a nice, long shower, because my sisters weren't awake and I actually had the time. I dried my long hair and actually took my time and straightened it because my sisters would pester me until I did something, and it was either this or makeup. I dressed and checked my clock. It now read 6:45. Alright, time for breakfast.

I went downstairs and grabbed my favourite cereal out of the pantry. I ate my breakfast in peace, wondering what today would be like.

"Alright girls, into the car." It was now 7:00 and we needed to get to Westington. We piled into the car and off we went. If it was to our doom, I didn't know.

I was thinking about Nick. I had submitted my prank to him last night and I hoped it got picked. It had taken my quite a bit of my valuable guitar time.

I was also thinking of Fang. His nickname for the girl named Lissa, though unoriginal, was a clear warning sign for me. Those kind of girls and I never got along.

"We're here girls, have a wonderful first day." My mother said as we opened our doors and exited the vehicle. We walked up a sidewalk together and entered through the grand doors.

Turning to my little sisters I gave them a hug each and walked down a hallway opposite the one they needed to go down. I walked up the stairs and followed the route Fang had shown me until I reached my locker. There was a redhead next to it. _Lissa,_ I thought.

I walked up to my locker and opened it, looking for my Latin textbook that I had placed in there.

Suddenly the girl spoke, flipping her hair. "Hi, I'm Lissa."

"Hello." I responded. Her eyes widened.

"I love your accent! Are you really from England?" I groaned, realising I would have to answer that question countless times today.

"Yes, I am. Yes I am from London, and no I have never met any royalty." She furrowed her brow angrily.

"Excuse me, what's with the attitude? I was gonna let you hang out with me and my friends, but now, you can't." She said snootily.

Now I got why Fang felt bad for me. This girl was horrible. "Why would I want to hang out with a wannabe like you?" I asked sweetly, smiling innocently. I grabbed my textbook, my notebook, and my pencils and was on my way down the stairs when she shouted,

"You are at the top of my list!" I rolled my eyes and went to my class.

I walked in, and saw the old man at the front who I assumed was the teacher. I went past him, but he stopped me as I was about sit down at a desk. "Are you the new student, Max Ride?" I smiled at him, he was really nice.

"Yes and how did you know I shortened my name?" He chuckled and gave me an answer.

"You just don't seem like a girl who would call herself by her full name." Wow. Smart teacher. "Please sit next to Fang." I looked around and found him in the back corner.

"Hey." He said as I sat down to his right.

"Hi," I plopped my stuff onto my desk, it made a satisfying _thud_.

"So, how's Lissa?" He chuckled.

"Uggh!" I banged my head on the desk. "She is soooo stuck up and stupid!" I after I spoke, the teacher stood at the podium at the front of the classroom.

"Alright class, I know you think it's stupid and for little kids, but I'm gonna have the new girl Max introduce herself." Yippee. I stood up and walked to the podium where the teacher was motioning for me to stand. I could feel all of the teenagers' eyes on me as I opened my mouth.

"Hi, obviously I'm Max. My full name is Maximum, but if you call me that, you'll regret it." As what I said sunk in, along with my accent, all of my classmates looked a bit more interested.

"Alright, does anyone have any questions for Miss Max?" The teacher asked. You know, I should learn his name soon. About ten people raised their hands. My Latin teacher pointed to a guy. "Justin."

"Your accent is hot." The teacher glared at him while all of the class laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"Kathleen." A petite curly redhead, whose hair was more coppery than red, in the back of the room spoke.

"Is it really this annoying all the time when people ask you about your accent?" I beamed; I could really like this girl.

"Yes." I turned to the adult next to me who nodded, signalling I could go back to my seat.

The rest of the class was pretty uneventful, save the few guys who turned around and winked at me and the one guy who passed me a note with his phone number and something I will not repeat. Needless to say, even though I'm saying it, I crumpled it up and tossed into the trash can.

The bell rang and I looked at my schedule. I had independent music study. I guess I should explain.

When I was tested during my interview via my laptop, I was asked if I had played any musical instruments. Of course I said guitar, and I can play the violin as well.

So now you know why I'm walking down a hallway filled with people I don't know towards a room completely across the school from Latin.

I walked into the classroom. It wasn't a typical room. It didn't have desks, or a computer. It had a soundbooth and recording equipment, as well as two walls with instruments hanging on them. I was in Heaven.

"You must be Maximum." A voice said, coming from behind me. I turned around and saw a relatively young woman, only about eight years older than me.

"Max." I corrected.

"I'm Miss Kotz." She held out her hand for me to shake. I took it and shook.

"So what is this class?" I asked. "It doesn't seem like a regular course."

Miss Kotz laughed. "A few select students are chosen to take this class. You basically play instruments the whole time and can do what you want as long you have the pieces the school chooses ready by the concerts."

"Concerts?" I asked, my excitement growing.

"Yes, all of the organized music groups preform at certain times a year. The orchestra, the marching band, the choir and my students." She stopped talking and looked up at the roof, the way people do when they're thinking.

After a minute of complete silence, she suddenly spoke, shocking me. "The next concert is the back to school concert and is in two months. The other students have already begun practicing, back during summer, so you don't have to preform if you don't believe you can get a piece ready by then."

A wave of determination overcame me at that moment. "I can, and I will. Just get me the music and it'll be ready."

"Alright then. I'll get you the music tomorrow. For now you can find an instrument to play." She motioned to the wall full of guitars and the table in front of it with orchestra instruments. I ran over to it with wide eyes. So many gorgeous instruments!

A bright red electric guitar caught my eye. I carefully removed it from the hooks and strummed it. It was in tune and it sounded beautiful.

"What to play, what to play," I mumbled. I had always loved Paramore, so of course I learned how to play some of their songs. I decided to play Ignorance, as it was one of my favourite songs.

I started to play and then, under my breath, because I am not that great a singer, I sang along.

"If I'm a bad person and you don't like me, well I guess I'll make my own way. It's circle, a mean cycle, I can't excite you anymore." Then, another voice joined me.

"Where's your gavel? Your jury? What's my offense this time? You're not a judge, but if you're gonna judge me, well sentence me to another life." The voice was amazing, powerful, suited for the rock of Paramore. I stopped playing, the voice stopped singing, and I turned around.

It was Kathleen, the girl from my Latin class. She smiled and spoke. "Hi."

"Hey."

"I was sent by Miss Kotz to show you around the classroom and tell you a bit more." She walked over to me, the curls in her hair bouncing.

"I play the violin, viola, bass, cello and the mandolin. Basically, I'm classically trained." Then, she added an afterthought. "And I sing."

"Nice to meet you." I said, reluctantly putting down the guitar.

"Do you play any instruments other than the guitar?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Yeah, I play the violin too, and I guess I sing a little." Just then, the bell rang.

"I should probably go, I have to try and not get lost." She nodded and smiled and let me get on my way.

**A/N: Sorry, it's a pretty crappy chapter, still mostly about information, but I had to write it. I promise it's the last boring one, I swear. Anyways, any of you watch Downton Abbey? I was just watching some reruns of season two, waiting for season three as I can't watch it until January since I live in the States. So, I was watching the episode where Carlyle was finally leaving after he got punched by Matthew because of Mary, and when he was telling Violet (I love Maggie Smith, Professor McGonagall anyone?) that he wouldn't be seeing her anymore and she says: "Promise?" I laughed. Go watch it if you have never seen it, just a warning, it's addicting. Alright, time for me to stop my ranting. **


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